Automatic lamp-filler and measuring-can.



Nd. 654,58Q.

Patdnted-iuly 24,1900. an. n. mums. I

' MITDIATIC LAIIP FILLER AND MEASURING CAN.

(Application filed Nov. 1, 1899,)

Mo Mel.)

NnEn-f STATES" nanny HERMAN'VEN BTJE", or nnnonno,

QRNIA:

AUTOMATIC LAMPQFTILILVER Ans uvizAs' rp srncrrrcarion forming part-o?Letters Patent No. 654,580, dated an 24, 1e06 Application filedNotemberl, 1899." Serial No. 785,583. (N6 model.) v

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY HERMAN VENA- BLE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Redondo, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Automatic Lamp-Filler andMeasuring-Can, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide means by which the liquid inany receptacle zloeing filled from a can will automatically out ofi! theflow of liquid from the can, thereby'to prevent any more'than therequired amount of liquid to pass from the can and absolutely doawaywith all danger of filling to overflowing lamps and other vessels;

In my invention I employ a receptacle pro- .vided with an outlet andwith an air-inlet, a valve for closing the outlet, and adjustable meansconnected with the valve for operating the same and being interposedbetween the external atmosphere and the chamber of the receptacle,whereby the said means will be operated by the atmospheric pressure toclose the valvewhen the air within the chamher is rarefied, my inventiondepending upon the'principle that the escaping liquid will rarefy theair to a sufficient degree for this purposeafter the air-inlet has, beenclosed.

My invention is applicable with any means for closing the air-inletand,thusallowing the escaping liquid to rarefy the atmosphere within thechamber. 7

My invention also includes means whereby a vessel of known capacity canbe used for accurately measuring difierent quantities of liquid lessthan that which the vessel is designed to measure.- 1

By means of my invention it becomes possible to fill a vessel to anydetermined depth in the dark, so that retailers can dispensehighly-inflammable liquids, such as gasolene,

after night without danger, the necessity of a light for seeing'theliquid being dispensed with. v r

The accompanying drawings illustrate my 7 invention as applied to beoperated by the I sired depth.

liquid rising in any vessel into which it fio'ws from the outlet... In aseparate view an adjustable gage is shown by means of which the devicecan be set to fill a vessel to any declosed. Fig. 3 is a plan of theinvention.

Fig. at is a sectional plan:- on line 4 4, Fig. 2. Fig: 5 is a.fragmental detail to show the ad justable device for gaging varyingdepths of liquid in the receiving vessel. Fig. 6 is a fragmental detailshowing the valve and valve rod.

A indicates the storage-receptacle, which may be a can or any other formof vessel,the same being normally hermetically closed except at theoutlet 1 and air-inlet 2, and said outlet and air-inlet being arrangedto be closed and opened, as will be fully set forth hereinafter. p

B indicates a valve for closing the outlet. 0 indicates a diaphragmconstituting the adjustable means connected with the 'valve B by arod 1) for operating said valveand being interposed between the externalatmosphone and the chamber of the receptacle and arranged to hold thevalve in its closed p'osi-' I tion when the diaphragm is in its inwardposition, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig.- 2. The diaphragm C isresilient and is dished, so that when in normal position its centerwillstand either outside -or inside the plane of the rim 0 of the diaphragm.The diaphragm is preferably stifiened between its rim and the center,being leftresilient at. the rim andat the center only, so that when thediaphragm is sprnn' g from either side to the other of said plane of therim it will spring uniformly with;-

out crinkling, and is thus made to carry the valve-rod b axially towardand -from the in-' ner'mouth Z of the outlet Z. v

D indicates guides around the inner mouth of the outlet to guide thevalve B into such mouth. The valve is preferably tapered, so

that it will enter the inner mouth of the outlet more readily. The playof the resilient diaphragm between its inward and its out-- wardposition is more than suiiicient to fullyopen and positively closethevalve. In practice the valve is adjusted to close before thediaphragm has reached its fullest inward pov sition, so that when thevalve is closed the ---Preferably the bottom '3 0f the-vessel is concaveand the inner mouth of the outlet 1 .is-located at the center ofthebottom and the valverod b is fastened at the center of the diaphragm andplays along the axis of the Vessel.The outlet 1 extends downward at itsouterfend, asindicated at 4, and the airinlet 2 preferably has itsouter-mouth 5 sub- 'stantially' at the same level with the outer mouthof the outlet 1.

are respectively formed of pipes, and the inlet pipe 2 terminates nearthe top ofthe vessel. E indicates a lever for conveniently oper Theoutlet and inlet ating the valve-rod to open the valve.

' F indicates a cover fitted on the top of the reee'ptacle' to protectthe diaphragm and to form a support for the fulcrum of the lever E.

Preferably the valve-rod b is carried by a serew eap G, which screws,upon a nipple c, projecting upward from the diaphragm O,

and the valve rod passes through an opening 0" within the nipple. Thescrew-cap G is provided with packing g, so as to hermetically close'theopening c". The valve-rod b is rigidly connected to the screw-cap G andcan be removed by unscrewing the cap when the cover F is taken ofi ofthe vessel for this purpose indicates a filling-opening in the front ofthe'can, the same being hermetically closed by a screw-cap h. v

'lilindicates legs at the upper end of the can to old the can fromrolling when the'can is laid'down for the purpose of filling. indicatesan outwardly-flaring base for the can. This base is cut away, as at j,at the front in order to allow the lamp or other -vesselV to be insertedbeneaththe can to receive the pipes 1 2 when the liquid is to be drawnfrom the can.

K indicates a stifiening-wire for the base. The base is formed of sheetmetal, the lower rin 'of which ishent around the stiffening wire, andthe inner ends is of the stiffeningwire are bent up and soldered orotherwise madef ast to, the bottom of the can, thus to greater strengthto the baseat the edges 9 rem s- Infpraeticaloperation to fill the canit will betilted back to rest upon the legs I andthe giv of t a rear ofthe base J thus bringing uppermost thelside of the can at which are theouter and inner mouths 5 6 of the air-inlet. The valve B beingclosed,the cap it is removed and the vessel is then filled in theordinary way. A

funnel may be inserted inlthe opening H, and.

the vessel can be filled rapidly. as the air is readily vented throughthe pipe 2. When the vessel is filled, the cap h is screwed into placetO hermeticaIIy seal the vessel, and the vessel isthen brought to theupright position.

(Indicated in solid linesinFigs. 1 and 2.) In earl er to draw liquidfrom'the vessel, the op erator will place the lamp. or other vessel V'tobel filled in positi n. with theoutlet 4 and tier mouth of the outletand to throw the diaphragm into its updrawn or outwardly-extendedposition. (Indicated in solid lines in Fig. 2.) The liquidreadilyfiowsoutthrough the outlet 1., and the vacuum is readily suppliedby air entering through the inlet 2. v r

When the liquid in the lamp or other vessel being'filled reaches theouter mouth of the inlet,the ingress of air is immediately'stopped, sothat the continued outflow of the liquid through the outlet produces ararefaction of the air within the chamber of the receptacle A. Theatmospheric pressure upon the diaphragm then forces the diaphragminward, thus pushing the valve into the mouth of the outlet andpreventing any further outflow of the liquid. f

In manufacturing the diaphragm it will, be stamped in the concave formshown in Fig. 2; but I have found in ordinary practice that an ordinarydiaphragm made of sheet metal is liable to spring in an irregularmanner, so.

that the val ve-rod will be thrust sidewise to. a greater or lessextent. I avoid this liability by providing radial stiffeners7,extending from near the rim of the diaphragm to. near the centerthereof.

A plain space, as at 8. 9,

however, is allowed to intervene between the ends of the stifieners andthe rim 0 and the opening 0, so that the diaphragm will spring freelywhile the stiffeners or rods 7 prevent it from crinkling. Thesestifieners may bev formed in various ways, as by meansof rods. or metalstrips or otherwise, as desired;-hut I prefer to form them in the mannershown in the drawings, in which they are formedby corrugations stampedin the diaphragm when it is pressed into its concave form.

L indicatesan attachment for extending the pipes 12 downward to anydesired extent'and to form a support for the adjustable gage pro jectionM,which slides upand down on the attachment to stop against the upperrim. of the vessbl to be filled, thus to gage the height to which thelevel of the liquid. will rise in the vessel being filled before theinlet will be shut to allow the rarefact-ion. of air to occur, as abovestated, thereby to cause the outlet to be closed by the valve. Theadjustable gage M is a projection slipping friction-tight upon-thedownwardly-extending pipes, 1 2 0; their downward extensions-L. The canis to be provided with the attachment when it is designed for use wherethe liquid to be drawn from the receptacleis to be mea ured. For use infilling lamps the attachment will not ordinarily be employed.

It is not necessary for the closing of the valve that the air-inlet bestopped by the rising liquid. The valve can be pushed down by the leveror independently of the lover, or the air-inlet may be closed by anymeanssuch as, for instance, the finger of the attend;-

ant--and the diaphragm will be pressed in,

654.580 g, 't a and the valve thereby closed, as soon asthe outflow ofliquid has caused snflicient rarefaction of the air in the chamber. 1

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patentof the UnitedStates, is

1. The combination of a receptacle provided with an outlet and with anair-inlet; a valve for closing the outlet; and adjustablemeans connectedwith thevalve for-operating the same and being interposedbetweerrtheexternal atmosphere and the chamber of the receptacle,whereby the same will be operated by the atmospheric pressure to closethe valve when the air within the chamber is'rarefied.

2. The combination of a receptacle provided with an outlet and with 'anair-inlet; a resilient diaphragm interposed between the chamber of thereceptacle and the external air; and a valve connected with thediaphragm and arranged to close theoutlet when the diaphragm is in itsinward position.

close the valve when the iair-inlet is stopped and the air within thechamber israrefied by the escape of the outflowing liquid.

4. The'combination of a receptacle provided with an outlet and with anair-inletg'aresili-- ranged to close the outlet when the diaphragm is inits inward position; and alever connected with the valve to open thesame. I

5. The combination of a receptacle provided ent diaphragminterposedlbetween 'the cham I berofthe receptacle and the external airavalve connected with the diaphragm and arwith an outlet and withanair-inletpa resilient diaphragm interposed between the chains ber ofthe receptacle and the external air; a

valve-closer comprising two downward eitensions of the liquid-outlet andthe air-inlet; v

and a gage projection slidably mounted on said downward extensions tocontact with the receiving vessel. 1

In testimony whereof I have signed my valve connected with the diaphragmand'ar-J f ranged to close the outlet when the diaphragm is in itsinward position; and a pneumatic name to this specification; in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, at Los 'Angeles, California, this29th day of September, 1899.

HENRY HERMANVENABLE; Witnesses:

JAMES R. TOWNSEND, FRANCIS M. TOWNSEND.

